Catholic League Launches Campaign to Shed Light on 'Angels and Demons'

The nation's largest Catholic civil rights organization has launched an educational campaign to inform the public about the agenda behind "Angels & Demons," the upcoming movie based on first bestselling book by The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown.

"Author Dan Brown and director Ron Howard are getting good at this," said Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League on Monday in a public announcement.

"'The Da Vinci Code' was replete with falsehoods presented as fact, and now the tag team is back again delivering a curious blend of fact and fiction. All done at the expense of the Catholic Church," he added.

As the sequel to the 2006 blockbuster "The Da Vinci Code," "Demons & Angels" follows religious symbology professor Robert Langdon of Harvard University, who must solve clues about an ancient underground brotherhood, the Illuminati, to save the Vatican from a powerful time bomb.

The first Brown adaptation, which was the second highest grossing movie of 2006 worldwide, centered around the idea that Jesus Christ married and fathered a child. It also depicted the conservative Catholic group Opus Dei as a murderous cult.

"Brown-Howard are obsessed with Catholicism," claimed Donohue. "It is not enough to criticize it – they are hell bent on demonizing it. It is not enough to drag out dirty laundry – they invent it. And the fact that they pay absolutely no price for their propaganda shows beyond dispute that anti-Catholicism is the one bigotry Hollywood likes."

To help moviegoers distinguish fact from fiction, the Catholic League will be releasing a booklet that details the "myths, lies and smears that are made against the Catholic Church" and "provides evidence of the anti-Catholic animus harbored by those associated with the film."

On Wednesday, Catholic League will address the anti-Catholic sentiments of the producers and film crew.

"By the time we are finished with 'Angels & Demons,' there should be few who won't know what the Brown-Howard agenda entails," Donohue claims.

"Angels & Demons" is set to release this year on May 15 – around one month after Christians worldwide celebrate Easter. "The Da Vinci Code" was released on May 19, 2006 – also around one month after Easter celebrations.